Quick info re. WHW Module 10 + A Discussion (Patreon)

Hello everyone, there's something I'd like to talk with you about today. But first...

1. Status on WHW module 10

To get this out of the way first: WHW module 10 is LATE :(
If you joined just for this, PLEASE do feel free to ask for a refund and don't be shy! You can just PM 'hey I want a refund' and I'll give it no questions asked.
I truly encourage anyone frustrated by these delays or just plain ol' not happy with their subscription to ask for a refund. This matters very very much to me. I know I haven't been posting as much as I should have and, cause or no cause, if you feel that I'm not fulfilling my end of the deal, I'm happy to remedy that in this way. 

Now, for the delays at hand, part of the reason there is I've lost a whole week to some 'trouble' back home (in Europe) which I had to address over many stressful video calls at all times of the day and night due to time zones. It's resolved as of yesterday, 1am, but I lost the time and I am feeling very burnt out as this was emotionally heavy for me. 

I will release a first part of the module soon-ish (the separated status and almost everything revolving around that), then a second part (the custody and post-permanent separation relations) to not make you have nothing forever. I'll try to put up some new screenshots on Monday of the features that would be in the first 'developer's' release.
And the other reasons for trouble & delays... Well, if you read #2 you'll know about that too :)

2. Now we 'need to talk'

I want to change things in my workflow and 'reset' a little bit.

Something I've discussed with other modders is deadline pressure harming creativity. I do feel that I need to stop trying to share with you deadlines too early in the development process. 

It's a way for me to push things forward, but in the end it stresses me out and remains at the forefront of my mind every time I work on mods, a stress that sometimes makes the process blocked and hindered.
Every time I read a 'when will this be released?', or when I look at the calendar and / or think about how much time I have or don't have to finish something (basically every 5 minutes when working), I freak out times 20. My brain becomes a scattered colony of ants going in every direction. But what it needs to be for modding, is a very organized and focused colony of ants, to keep on with the metaphor. So when it goes into freaked out brain, suddenly my time in front of the computer is so much less efficient. But I get to a point where I feel guilty about taking an hour or two off to spend time with my husband, even though I never even give myself a "weekend" or such, even though in front of the computer my stress level is making the work slow and hard. And it's a negative feedback loop whir-pooling down and it's bad.

I think I worked better when I wasn't doing this deadline thing. Here's why: when I made 'talents & weaknesses', I did it in secret, and that gave me so much more efficiency working on it. The moment I announced its release for the weekend it was released on, the pressure was back, the going, harder, and I trudged where only the day before, ideas and code to use where just flowing through. But it was ok because the mod was 95% finished at that point! So I knew I was fitting in the deadline and the stress was just the normal end of project rush.

Here's the pattern I think we should not keep: I have deadlines that I set very early in development when it's hard to predict time scales, then turns out I can't keep them, then I feel so guilty I totally paralyze my process. You get disappointed, I get disappointed, in the end, nobody wins.

If modding were something easily controllable and predictable, it would be fine to have deadlines announced early in development stages. But modding and coding in general is not something you can accurately predict time-wise. Small things can end up taking ages because of one tiny pesky issue you take forever to find; big things can go fast just because there was no hitch or the processes involved are simple. We all come up with our 'best guesses' but always get thrown by things. It's common on the modders' forums to see someone complain they've been stuck for days on a tiny issue they can't figure out. We commiserate as we all have that happen.

Add to that the strain I put on my body. My arm problems limit me, and I cause myself more pain than I should. It worsens and I don't give myself breaks.
As of today, I am investing in additional adaptive tools in the hope of helping on that end (speech to text program, foot pedals to replace mouse clicks, and a split-elevated keyboard), and some new braces that aren't all torn up and weak from too much use. These things are costlier than they have right to be, but thanks to your support they are within my reach, and I hope they will help me keep modding and doing all the mod support answers in good conditions. :) I'm also very involved in the modding community trying to help others out by sharing knowledge, which serves other modders & mods, and in turns serves me when others too brainstorm with me; this is something I don't want to give up doing either.

I want to switch gears. I would like to announce expected release dates when projects are almost almost almost finished, basically, ready to go into testing or very close to that.

I don't think it will slow me down much. I think that by eliminating these stressors, modding will flow free again and if anything I should be working better. But it may slow thins down.
There is SO MUCH I want to add and rework / improve to already released things, and SO MUCH new stuff I want to make, all that is announced to begin with, and more! I want to do so in good conditions so that I do good work. I don't want my standards to fall. I most of all don't want to disappoint you all. And for that purpose, at this point, I am seeing things need a change. 

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What do you think of all this? My thinking is, I won't say when something is expected until it's so close to finished I can actually guarantee it (like I did with 'talents & weaknesses' basically).
You'd still know what I'm making and get previews etc, and actually more of these (and more like it should be according to my tiers) because I'll feel less in a hurry, which means I can take screenshots etc and discuss with you all and dynamically adjust features during development, I  just wouldn't give expected dates.

Please share your thoughts if any, as this is a process I am doing with you - I see modding as a synergic activity of sorts, where you supporters are involved as well and with me in it.

Thank you, sincerely.

Lumpinou